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House Fire in Freeland Forces People Out

FREELAND — Fire crews were called to fight a house fire in Luzerne County that forced the people living there out into the chilly night. Flames broke out ...

FREELAND -- Fire crews were called to fight a house fire in Luzerne County that forced the people living there out into the chilly night.

Flames broke out around 7 p.m. Friday and the fire chief said it was a tough one to fight.

Crews from numerous departments battled the blaze that broke out inside a two-and-a-half-story house containing three apartments in Freeland.

Firefighters raced to the building on Walnut Stree, hearing reports of people trapped inside.

"We had a report of three kids trapped on the second floor. We did pull two adults out of the first floor on the 629 side," said Freeland Fire Chief Joseph Stepansky. "Everybody was accounted for within about three minutes of the initial units arriving and we started the fire attack."

Fire crews had a tough time fighting the fire due to heavy wind conditions, with flames spreading to the house next door.

People from all over the borough came out to watch.

"When I was coming home, I saw this massive cloud covering Freeland and a bunch of emergency crews around. That's all I saw and then I came up here and the fire was still active," Issac Pugh of Freeland said.

"There was a lot of smoke, obviously the fire was pretty bad. There's a lot of damage to the roof and everything," said Jonathan Bruznitsky of Freeland.

After attacking the fire with hoses from the outside, the flames were brought under control.

"We were able to pretty much put the fire out. Now we have crews going back in cautiously due to the damage and the burned out structure to put out hot spots in the walls yet. It was a tough fire due to the winds and the construction of the building," Stepansky said.

The people forced out of the home were taken to the YMCA. Volunteers from the American Red Cross were there to help them. The Red Cross reported it was helping a total of 11 people.

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